A Team Effort to Protect Jobs in the First State

Dear Friend,

Earlier this week, I joined Representative John Carney and Senator Chris Coons to highlight the passage of legislation that makes a common-sense fix to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and helps protect hundreds of jobs in the First State.

When the ACA became law, an unintentional provision put American insurance companies who provide expatriate, or international, health insurance plans at a serious disadvantage while competing with foreign insurance companies abroad. These plans provide health insurance to Americans and other international workers in foreign countries. The American insurance companies offering these plans, faced with financial and legal restraints that did not apply to their foreign competitors, had to consider laying off employees to cover the costs. Hundreds of those employees in Delaware faced the prospect of losing their job.

My colleagues and I in the Delaware congressional delegation, as well as other members of Congress in both parties, were committed to making sure our hardworking constituents could keep their jobs. Congressman Carney was a tenacious leader in getting the fix passed first in the House of Representatives and then Sen. Coons and I worked across the aisle to pass the bill in the Senate. This bipartisan piece of legislation, which has now been signed into law, will help protect hundreds of American jobs in Delaware and even more across the country.

As we worked on this issue for more than three years, I was reminded of some of my core principles. I like to say, “If it isn’t perfect, make it better,” and this is a good start toward doing that with the Affordable Care Act. We also didn’t give up when we felt in our hearts this was the right thing to do, even though we hit many roadblocks along the way. Together, Congressman Carney, Senator Coons, and I will continue to work hard for our fellow Delawareans and jobs in our state. I’m particularly proud of what we were able to accomplish in this effort. As the News Journal wrote, “Every once in awhile that persistence and hard work of legend actually pays off.”

Tom Carper